Retinal scanner
The retinal scanner is a device used by the Black Mesa personnel in the Black Mesa Research Facility. Appearances ''Half-Life'' and its expansions *When the only way to proceed further is to have a scientist or security guard operate a retinal scanner and there is only one available, it is vital to keep him alive, otherwise the "postmortem" message "Subject failed to effectively utilize human assets in achievement of goal" will show up and the game will restart. In that way the player is forced to think and be careful before shooting anything that moves. *When idle, the screen is blue. When used, it turns to orange and shows a green circle around a flesh-colored dot. When the access is granted, a beep can be heard. When the access is denied, a voice says "Access denied". Sometimes an idle retinal scanner will have display an active state, as seen for instance in the Advanced Biological Research Lab. *Some retinal scanners have the words "Caution: Avoid motion while retinal scan is in progress" above them. *After the Resonance Cascade many retinal scanners are broken, preventing the player from using the nearby door or forcing them to break the door window. *In Blue Shift, Barney and Dr. Rosenberg reach an older part of Black Mesa, where Hand Scanners and different Chargers are used. It is likely they were the primary scanners used in Black Mesa in the past, subsequently replaced by retinal scanners in the modernized areas of the facility. *In Decay, the brush retinal scanner was replaced by a detailed model. This shows the actual scanning component on a hinged pivot with the word "SECURITY" on it. The screen, when activated, shows a clockwise circling of a crosshair-like scanner process around an orange retinal image. It also contains a tube of electrical wires on the right hand side, lacks the flashing dots of the original version, and emits a buzzing sound instead of a voice answer when access is denied. This model also replaces the brush retinal scanner in the PlayStation 2 version of Half-Life. *The beeping sounds of the original version vary. Sometimes briefly, sometimes very long, and either high or low. ''Half-Life 2'' In Half-Life 2, a retinal scanner is operated by Kleiner in his lab to access the teleport. Hidden inside a column, it can be accessed by moving the Black Mesa scientists portrait. It is not seen later, being mostly a nod to the previous episodes. When deploying and hiding back into the column, it uses Combine Camera sounds. It is unknown if it is a newly made scanner or a retconned Black Mesa scanner. Behind the scenes The Security Card was originally to fill this role but was cut in favor of the retinal scanner, forcing the player to preserve lives instead of picking a security card off a corpse. Gallery File:Early_retinal.png|Early (alpha) retinal scanner. File:Scanner-broken.jpg|A broken retinal scanner near the Anti-Mass Spectrometer, right after the Resonance Cascade. File:Scanner-eli2.jpg|Eli VanceHalf-Life 2: Raising the Bar operating a retinal scanner after the Resonance Cascade. File:Scanner abrl lobby.jpg|Active retinal scanner inside the Advanced Biological Research Lab. File:Scanner outside.jpg|Active retinal scanner outside the Advanced Biological Research Lab. File:Retinal Scanner.jpg|Idle retinal scanner at the entrance of the Lambda Complex. File:Scanner-lambda-core.jpg|Scientist operating the previous retinal scanner. File:Otis scanner.jpg|Security guard operating a retinal scanner at the start of Opposing Force. File:Ba teleport10004.jpg|Old Hand Scanner. File:Eye scanner decay.jpg|''Decay'' version. File:Guard scanner.jpg|Security guard operating a retinal scanner at the very start of Decay. File:Dy dampen0015.jpg|Retinal scanner in Sector C in Decay. File:Eye scanner hl2.jpg|Kleiner's Lab retinal scanner model. File:Eye scanner + portrait.jpg|The Kleiner's Lab retinal scanner and the Black Mesa scientists portrait. List of appearances *''Half-Life: Day One'' *''Half-Life'' *''Half-Life: Opposing Force'' *''Half-Life: Blue Shift'' *''Half-Life: Decay'' *''Half-Life 2'' References External links * Category:Black Mesa technology Category:Resistance technology Category:Brush entities